Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1887-08-27
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by H.RlDER HAGGARlD.
Eutb0r0E 'Nps SoIOnaoEs Mugs SbSEls
iCONCLUnED.

be heard except the regular tramp of the
sentries But their business did not lie in the
direction of the wagon house; they left that
on their right and curved round toward the
blue gum avenue. When they got nearly OPP
posite to the first tree they halted in patch !
of stones, and Jantie went forward to recon
noitre Presently he returned with the intel
ligence that all the Beers who were with the
wagon had gone to sleep, but that Muller was
still sitting i'll his tent thinking. Then they
crept on. perfectly sure that if they were not
heard they would not be seen, curtained as
they were by the dense mist and darkness,
till at length they reached the bole of the
hrst big gum tree. flve PAGES from this tree
Frank Mullers tent was pitched. 1t bad "a
light in it which caused the wet tent to
glow in the mist as though it had |
been rubbed with phosphorus, and |
on this lurid canvas the shadow of |
Frank Muller was gigantically limned. lie |
was 50 placed that the light cast magniiied |
reflection of his every feature and even of his |
expression upon the screen before them. The |
attitude in which he was seated was his favor |
lite one when he was plunged iii thought, his |
hands resting on his knees and his gaze fixed |
on vacancy. He was thinking of his triumph, |
and of all that he had gone through to win it |
and of all that it would bring him. He held |
the trump cards now, and the game was III |
his own hand. He had triumphed, and yet
over him hung the shadow of that curse that |
dogs the presence of our accomplished desires. |
Too often, even with the innocent, does the |
seed of oar destruction turk in the rich bios |
som of our hopes. and much more is this 81 |
with the guilty. Somehow this thought was
present IA his mind tonight, and in rough, |
half educated way he grasped Its truth. Once
more the saying of the old Boer general rose
in his mind Il believe that there is a God
| believe that God sets a limit To Il mans
doiugs. Ii he Is going too far, God kills
him.
What IA dreadful thing it would be if the
old fool were right after ALI Surprising that
there were a tod and God were TO kill him
tonight, and hurry off his soul, if he had one,
to some dim place of intending fearl All his
superstitions awoze at the thought, and he
shvered so Violently that the shadow of the
shver caused the outlines of the gigantic
form upon the canvas to tremble up and
down.
Then, rising with an angry curse, he hastily
threw off his outer clothing, and having
turned down but not extinguished the rough
paratline lamp, flung himself upon the little
camp bedStead which creaked and groaned
beneath his weight like "a thing in pain.
Then came silence, only broken by the drip
drip Of the rain from the gum leaves over
head and the rafting OF the boughS whenever
breath OF air stirred them 1t was an eerie
and depressing night night that might well
have tried the nerves of any strong man who,
wet through and worn out, had been obliged
to crouch upon the open and endure it. How
much more awful was it then to the unfortu-
nate woman who, half broken hearted, fever
stricken and well nigh crazed with suffering
of mind and body, waited in it to see murder
done, Slowly the minutes passed, and at
every raindrop or rustic of IA bOugh her
guilty conscience summoned up a host of
fears. But by the mere power of her will she
kept them down She would go through with
it Yes, she would go through with it. Surely
be must be asleep by now!
They crept up to the tent and placed their
ears within two inches of his head. Yes, he
was asleep; the sound of his breathing rose
and fell with the regularity of an infants.
jess turned round and touched her COM
panion upon the shoulder. He did not move,
but she felt that his arm was shaking.
Now she whispered.
Still he hung back 1t was evident TO her
that the long waiting had taken the courage
out of him.
ABE man, she whispered again, so low
that the sound scarcely reached his ears, al
though her lips were almost touching them,
go, and mind you strike home"
Then at last She heard him softly draw the
great knife from the sheath, and in another
no had rrli5eJ fr1p baY sid
emily she saw the line of light that cut out
upon the darkness through the opening of the
tent broaden little, and by that she knew
that he was creeping in upon his dreadful
errand Then she turned her head and put
her fingers in her ears. But even 50 she could
SIZE long line of shadow travelling across the
skirt of the tent. So she shut her eyes also
and waited, sick at heart, for she did not
dare move.
Presently-it might have been five minutes
OF only half minute afterwartl, for she had
lost count of time, she felt somebody touch
her on the arm 1t was Jamie.
is it done:7 she whispered again
He shook his head and drew her away from
the tent In going her foot caught in one of
the guide ropes and shook it slightly.
81 could not do 1t, missile, he said. "He is
asleep and looks just like child When |
lifted the knife be smiled i'll bis sleep and all
the strength went out of my arm, so that
could not strike And then before could
get strong again the ghost of the old English
woman came and hit me in the back and ]
ran away"
If a look could have blasted man Jantje
would assuretily have been blasted then The
mans cowardice made her mad. but while she
still choked with wrath duiker buck, which
had come down from its stony home to feed
upon the rose bushes, suddenly spranS with a
crash almost from her feet, passing away like
a gray CLEAN into the utter darkness
jess started and then recovered herself,
guessing what it was, but the miserable Hot
tentot was overcome with terror and fell upon
the ground groaning out that it was the ghost
of the Old Engiishwoman. He had dropped
the knife as he fell, and jess, seeing the i'm
lninent pert in which they were placed, knelt
down, picked it up and Kissed into his eal
that if he were not quiet she would kill him.
This pacified him a little, but no earthly
power could persuade him to enter the ten
again.
What was to be done? What could she do
For two minutes or more she buried her fac,
III neT WEI DdUuc anu buOuSul NlNiig AM
despairingly.
Then a dark and dreadful determination
entered her mind The man Muller SHOULD
not escape Bessie should not he sacrificed t.
him Rather than that, She would do the dee
herself
Without a word she rose. animated by tn
tragic agony of her purpose and the force o
her despair, and glided toward the tent, tn
great knife in her hand Now, ah! all to-
soon, she Upside Of it and stood for
second to allow her eyes to grow accustomet
to the hight Presently she began to see, first
the outline Of tue bed. then the outline of tn
manly form stretched upon it, then both be'
and man distinctly. Jantje had said that h
was sleeping like a child He might hav
been. now he was not On the contrary hi
face was convHlse,i like that of one in an ex
tremity OF fear, and great beads of swea
stood upon his brow 1t was as though h
knew his danger. and was yet utterly power
less to avoid it, He lay upon his back On
heavy arm, his left, hung over the side of tn
bed the knuclsleS of the hand resting on til
ground the other was thrown back and hi
Il, L.